Posted on 07/15/2011 10:50:36 PM PDT by Route797
LOUDON, N.H. — Jimmie Johnson has two titles he is especially proud to have linked to his name. Five-time NASCAR champion. AP Male Athlete of the Year.
Johnson was swept into a brief Twitter feud this week because of his inclusion as a nominee for male athlete of the year at the ESPY Awards.
Seahawks receiver Golden Tate posted on his account, @ShowtimeTate, "Jimmy johnson up for best athlete???? Um nooo .. Driving a car does not show athleticism."
Tate, 22, angered NASCAR fans and posted, "12th man get these rednecks off me."
More Tate tweets:
• "I've driven a car on unknown roads at night at 90mph no big deal. No sign of athletism."
• "Guarantee he couldn't in million year play any SPORT."
• "give me 6 months of training and I bet I could compete."
NASCAR defenders got Tate's attention.
"Apologies for my offensive comment to NASCAR fans. I actually read up on it and NO I couldn't race a car 150 mph," he wrote.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
If sitting on your ass behind the wheel, no matter how many labs you make, makes you an athlete, then I guess we will see car racing in the Olympics next year.
Who would you think is more the athlete. A guy racing by foot around that track one time or a driver going around 20 times? A guy sits on his ass for many days on the way to the moon in a rocket. Everyone knows that takes skill and talent and he has to be in shape. I guess that makes him an athlete????
>> Tate: “give me 6 months of training and I bet I could compete.”
Why would Tate train for a non-athletic competition?
Kyle Busch sucks!
Now that that’s outta the way.....the following are NOT athletes.....Horses......NASCAR drivers....Golfers.....Bowlers....The Houston Astros. :)
Oh, ovaries occasionally come in brass too :-)
Depends on the track.
Having known a few of the top level Off-Road racers and having sat shotgun with a few of them in actual races in Baja, I can tell you that many are every bit as athletic as some Baseball players. The absolute pounding the body takes is something that has to be experienced. My non athletic self had to be helped out of the truck at 250 miles. Took a few days to even want to move again.
Hey, if you think it’s a bunch of fat guys cruising with one hand on the wheel, so be it. If you saw the post I made above I mentioned a series a mag did with Ivan Stewart. As another part of it, they sent him up with a figher jock in a jet and did the routine. Then the jock got in the truck with Stewart and they went through that routine.
Unless you think a fighter pilot isn’t an athlete, the man said it was one of the most intense and physically grueling things he’d ever experienced.
To my mind auto racing involves the test of a machine, not a human. Therefore, it’s not truly athleticism, regardless of the driver’s physical abilities. Kind of like being a horse jockey: it’s the horse who’s competing.
Not much tin between a 250 degree engine and an even hotter tranny and ‘Yo Arse” ;) That nomex isn’t the coolest stuff I ever wore either.
These guys crack me up. “Athlete” isn’t only a running back or Wide receiver or an Olympic power lifter (lets see one of them run around the other poster’s race track for a lap - of they even could. But they can bench 500 lbs. while the runner struggles with 200 or less.) Hell most athletes say most sport is more mental than physical anyway.
I remember this one...
Ricky Rudd doing an interview in victory lane - on his back:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCtddIpHWLM&feature=related
There are only two professional sports; Golf and autopmobile racing. You have to win to get paid. All the other “professional sportr” are just business. The workers are on SALARY.
People who have never raced don’t really understand what they are talking about. When I was 21, I raced a dirt modified. I was in very good physical condition and I was always exhausted after 20 laps. Sometimes, I was breathing as heavily as after running a mile. I was driving a 4,000 lb. car with a 400 HP motor 80 mph entering the turn on a 1/4 mile track. With 20+ cars around me. I promise you, the car does not do all the work. When you are turning a car 180 degrees with turns the same radius as a running track, you are pulling a lot of G’s. Not to mention wearing a 3-layer firesuit, fireproof underwear, neck brace, and helmet in 100 degree temps here in Texas.
I know NASCAR is different, but I can assure you, the above is nothing like getting in the car and running to the mall.
Not to mention the fact that you have to be completely focused the whole time you are racing, whether in a 6 lap heat race or a 500 mile race at Daytona. Focus and adrenaline. Not sure I can think of any other sport that requires that kind of focus for the duration of the event.
There’s no doubt that racing requires physical prowess.
Exactly what I was getting at. The absolute concentration, situational awareness and adrenaline sustained for that amount of time is incredible. I’m sure you know the stories (true stories) how racers, very much physically fit people have had heart attacks in the car.
Every turn - adrenaline rush. Every bump from another car - adrenaline rush/impact, Every over/understeer - adrenaline rush...over and over and over and over for X dozen/hundred miles. On top of the physical aspect of handeling an on the edge of control 2 ton projectile of metal and composites.
Nope, just a leisurely Sunday drive. Some people will never experience that kind of joy...sucks to be them ;)
And if you lose that focus, you could very easily end up dead.
Yup, lots of it. It’s just a different kind of athleticism. It’s far from traditional as we often define it, but it still can be defined as athletic.
Same with Bass fishing...
OK, Now I’m kidding ;)
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